Foremost industrialist, Aliko Dangote, has tasked young and upcoming entrepreneurs to always stay focused on achieving their dreams despite the many challenges of doing business in Nigeria.

Dangote, who gave the advice at the National Summit on Entrepreneurship and Innovation, with the theme: ‘Entrepreneurship, Job creation and Poverty reduction,’ in Lagos urged young entrepreneurs to focus on achieving their goals of establishing their businesses instead of dwelling on the challenges militating against their enterprises.

Dangote, who was represented by Group Executive Director, Stakeholders’ Management & Corporate Communications, Dangote Industries Ltd, Mansur Ahmed, said that all entrepreneurs in Nigeria face similar challenges, therefore, focus should be on finding ways of making the business succeed and move forward, rather than dwelling on constraints.

Addressing the young entrepreneurs, he counseled them to know themselves and identify their calling saying that ‘success is in your calling and character’. He challenged them to build the necessary skills and competence required to succeed. According to him, young entrepreneurs should think big, dream big and aim high.

Dangote, speaking on the theme of the summit: ‘Entrepreneurship, Job Creation and Poverty Reduction,’ said “the theme is quite apt, as the three terms are clearly interwoven. Entrepreneurs create jobs and when people are gainfully employed, the incidence of poverty is greatly reduced.

“This forum is coming at a time when Nigeria has been rated the largest economy in Africa with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $510billion (well above South Africa’s $350bn); the 26th largest economy in the world; and the leading destination for investment in Africa.”

However, he described the situation as a curious paradox that despite these excellent achievements, the level of unemployment in the country remains high.

Citing relevant reports, he said, “Reports put Nigeria’s unemployment rate at about 24 percent. The job creation figure released by the National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS) in September 2014, showed that the economy created 500,224 jobs across the country in the first six months of 2014.

“More efforts are obviously needed in view of the large army of unemployed Nigerians, particularly graduates, roaming the streets in search of often elusive white-collar jobs. As you may well imagine, this has a lot of security implications for the country.”

Source: http://businessclassng.club/pt/Dangote-urges-young-entrepreneurs-to-stay-focused.12-28-2014/blog.htm

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